There are many computer systems that have been designed to create, store, approve, revise or verify data electronically. Many of the documents that have been created through these systems have relied on a pre-existing template as a means of assembling data. This facilitates the means of data entry and allows the user to store the data and the template on one document. The use of the template also contributes to a less time-consuming process of entering information on an electronic document, a process that may contribute to fewer costs than those associated with paper-based data collection.
While there exist a great number of systems that may facilitate the creation, serial approval, storage and authentication of documents or of templates, there is no known system to date that can enable users to separate user data from template information. Current systems allow users to create templates and enter data in them. The data therefore becomes bound to the template in a single document. However, such systems do not have the capacity to enable users to securely approve, store and authenticate each portion separately, to approve multiple templates or, alternatively, opt to recreate the complete document.
Existing systems vary in the scope of the functions they can perform. Some are particularly limited, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,969 to Marshall et al., which primarily addresses authentication and storage. This mechanism stores information and protects against unauthorized modifications. While this type of data authentication system contributes greatly to ensuring the security and integrity of data, it lacks the capacity for the generation, approval and secure storage of both template information and user data.
Other systems offer certain types of electronic functions that are related to the generation and authentication of electronic signatures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,133 to Kapp et al. describes a system designed to generate a completed payment document, which can be signed by a customer, and then capture that customer's signature in digital form. The principal feature of this mechanism is that it seeks to ensure that a signature approving a particular document was, in fact, captured at the time of the completion of the transaction to which it relates and was not obtained on some other occasion and merely reproduced for the particular transaction in question. The Kapp et al. patent creates a digital record of the transaction and captures a digital representation of the signature at the time the transaction is completed. This system then uses this digital record to encrypt the digital representation of the signature. However, it does not offer any possibility of generating or approving a template document separately from the user data or the electronic approval.
Other technology provides for the creation of an electronic signature for a particular signer only, and cannot be used for any document other than the one for which the signature was given (U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,567). U.S. Pat. No. 5,606,609 to Houser and Adler is a system designed to verify the integrity or signer of electronic documents. This is accomplished by embedding and encrypting security information in the electronic document at a location selected by the signer. When the electronic document is subsequently displayed, the technology decrypts the security information and verifies the identity of the signer. In another mechanism, another method operates to authenticate and verify users on a network (U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,427). The possible applications of any of the aforementioned systems, albeit useful for certain purposes, are nonetheless limited as they do not allow for the creation, approval or authentication of template information distinct from the user data.
While each of the aforementioned systems can be useful for electronic business processes, they all have certain deficiencies. These mechanisms lack the capacity to enable the user to generate, approve, store and authenticate template information separately from user data, with the possibility of subsequently merging the two later in a complete document. Current technology operates such that any user data entered on the template becomes bound to the template in one document. The present invention allows users to access either the template data, multiple templates and/or the user data as independent files. Moreover, the technology ensures that no unauthorized modifications can be made to either file or to the complete document. This therefore accords the user greater flexibility in accessing each file without compromising the security or authenticity of the data.
The Remote Template Approval (“RTA”) can serve as a vital tool facilitating electronic business processes. Many industries, such as insurance for example, which rely on templates and standard forms as a means of gathering information or selling and marketing services can greatly benefit from this technology. The RTA would enable those marketing these services to securely store and access user data separately from the templates, while individual template information could be generated, accessed or modified for each subsequent user or purchaser. This would represent an efficient way of gathering, storing and authenticating client and template information. In addition, it would offer an easy and secure medium through which users or consumers could submit information and purchase services on-line.
Clearly then, as electronic business transactions become even more prevalent, the need to generate and store template information and user data as separate entities will become more pronounced as well. As this occurs, the need for the Remote Template Approval mechanism will expand with it.